Busy Day

We got up early and worked before breakfast and then left the house to go to Plaza Cadillac to have my car checked out.  Oil, lube, rotated tires, new filters, etc. etc.  $0.00 cost!!!!

Came back home for a quick lunch (salad and leftover salmon).  Yummy!

Rested for a few minutes and then went to have our hair done.  Vanessa O'Connor did a good job on both of us and it was late when we got out of there.

Went to Oak Wood for ribs, and each ordered a full slab of ribs.  We each have half of a slab left for dinner another night.  The full slab was on sale for $13.99!!!!!  The ribs came with two sides and a slice of bread.  We each had a sweet potato and cole slaw.

Polar Vortex

Chicago is having unbelievable weather and we are so glad to be here in The Villages.  It is cool here (40's) but we are not complaining.

I worked most of the day and did some laundry while Terry went to the grocery store.  She did not need me slowing her down.

We had our leftover dessert (brownie) for breakfast and it was yummy and so decadent.

I made lunch (don't let the word get out) as I had a taste for grilled cheese sandwiches.

Terry prepared a wonderful dinner for us (Barb and Bernie joined us).  We had wine, appetizers of brie and crackers and artichoke dip.  Dinner was salmon, rice, salad, rolls and dessert.  Barb and Bernie brought some dessert too and we ate well.  It was a fun evening of catching up.

Barb and Bernie have lived in The Villages for 21 years and have seen many changes.  She and Terry worked together at Shell Oil when they were both fairly newly weds.

Glad to be in Florida

The weather in Chicago is going to be historic and we are so grateful to be in Florida.

We have checked on all of the kids tonight and everyone is home, warm and safe.

I've closed the Township for Wednesday and Thursday for the protection of our staff.

We had a nice day.  After breakfast, we made arrangements to go to Miami Beach's South Beach to meet our new cousin Malcolm Bishop, who will be in the states for a few days.  We will be staying at the Gates Hotel (Hilton by Doubletree) on South Beach, where Malcolm is staying. Cousin Rick and Elaine will join us for dinner (driving down from Boca Raton).  Waiting to hear from Cousin Jeff and Judy, and hoping that it will work for them to join us also. 

Malcolm is a second cousin whom we found through DNA on Ancestry.com.  He was raised in Wales and did not know that he was 41% Jewish until he did his DNA.  We have common great grandparents.

After lunch, we, and our mah jongg set, walked across the street to play mah jongg with Arlene, Joan and Ethel.  Terry and I both had a nice afternoon and had some mah jonggs.

Afterward,  we went to Bonefish for their Tuesday special.  We all had salmon, a salad, two sides, and dessert.  Terry and I brought our dessert (brownies) home and ate the ice cream in the restaurant.

Just finished watching Finding Your Roots.  I'm finishing the crossword from yesterday and will start today's paper and then the crossword.

Spoiled

Color me spoiled.  I always say that I bring my cook to Florida with me.  I used to say that I brought my cook and my cleaning lady.  Well, my cook is still coming but the cleaning lady quit!

The cook made eggs Benedict for breakfast.

We both worked and then left the house to run some errands.  We recycled our newspapers at the Temple, put mail into the box at the postal station, went to Chase Bank and then headed out to Spanish Springs for lunch at Too Jays.

I had a taste for salami and it was satisfied and Terry had one of her favorite soups - split pea, along with a salad.

We wandered around the Historic Section to see if they had replaced any more of the manufactured houses with site-built houses.  It does not appear as if many more have been replaced.

When we came back home, I listened to a call with the Illinois Partners on how to make the public understand what social service agencies do.

Terry made us chicken, along with a salad and we watched CNN.  The news could really make you sick.

After dinner, I went into the bedroom and was on Google Hangout to participate in the Township Meeting.  It was a fast meeting as the weather was not ideal in Skokie (it had started to snow again).

We are now going to be reading for the rest of the night.

Rainy and Cold Day

For those of you following the saga of the missing box - IT ARRIVED yesterday.  I opened some of the important things yesterday and left the rest for today.

I got up early (even though we went to bed late) and did two loads of laundry before Terry got up.  I had wanted to wash the new sweats that I bought yesterday.  Have spent the whole day in the sweats.  Terry has a sweatshirt and jeans on.  This is very casual Sunday.

When I went out for the newspaper (on the driveway) I had to put the umbrella up - yuck!

Terry did some laundry also and then made us waffles (frozen ones) for breakfast.

We both worked a good part of the day.  I ran out of steam around lunch time and will finish my bookkeeping, etc. tomorrow.

Took a two-hour nap and then read a good part of the day.  I'm trying to catch up on the magazines that I had not had time to read while at home.

Terry did not give up on chicken pot pie and today was a good day for comfort food.  She made a pie that was delicious with nice big chunks of chicken, vegetables and cream of chicken soup, topped with a crust from a package of biscuit mix    It was yummy.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer here.  Chicago is going to be hit with another snow storm and freezing cold weather.  Our friend Steve postponed his trip back to Chicago because of the weather.

Talked with our cousin Rick and they were staying in today too.  They are in Boca and their weather is similar to ours.  We are hoping to see him and Elaine next month.

Dreary - Cool Day

We moved slowly this morning.  It was dreary and cool day (but, we are not complaining after all Chicago is having an awful January).

We finally got out of the house and went to Walmart and did a little grocery shopping.  I also bought some sweats to use on the cold days that we are expecting.

At 5:30, we picked up Arlene and Joan to go to Ethel and Steve's for dinner.  Ethel cooked, but let that be our little secret.

We had a delightful dinner and a lot of conversation and it was late before we realized it.  We also realized that we had not taken a photo, but by then everyone was ready to leave and had their coats on.

Sarasota

We got up fairly early.  I answered student questions and then we got dressed, had some breakfast, and made our way down to Sarasota.

It is a two hour + ride to Sarasota and our main objective was to visit my friend Jean Wright, who fell and was in a rehab in Sarasota.  She has a winter home there and was on her way to the gym when she fell.  She broke her arm and did some damage to her back.

Diane Falk, a mutual friend, was staying in Ft Myers and she drove up and we met at the rehab facility and spent some time visiting with Jean.

After visiting with Jean, Terry, Diane and I went to lunch with Terry and my cousins, Betty and Bill Shapiro.  We went to First Watch, not far from Jean's rehab and all had a great lunch.  Everyone cleaned their plate.  I forgot to take a photo of Betty and Bill and Terry.  We are hoping to see them once more when their son Matthew is in town.  We met them earlier this month when their son Adam was in Florida.

After lunch, we stopped at a Starbucks, across the street, and Diane went in to get Jean some coffee.  She's been drinking hot water because their coffee is so bad.  Diane bought her a big cup of hot coffee and some instant coffee that she can put into her hot water.  We dropped Diane off at the rehab and started our trek back to The Villages.

We came home and stopped at the postal station, our premium forwarded boxes that had been mailed on Wednesday were in the box.  My box from last week is who knows where.

Rain, Sun and Jammies

When I got up it was DARK and RAINING.  The sun did come up later, but I declared it a jammie day and never left the house or got dressed!

We had talked about going for canasta lessons, but I had a pain in my leg, and decided that I was not up to going.

Terry kindly made me breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Tuna melt was for lunch (see above photo)

Terry put on some clothes and went for a walk during the afternoon, but she too has been reading.

Dinner was pasta primavera  - pasta with vegetables (sorry no photos).

I read all day and finished the book club book - Eleanor Oliphant is Fine and moved on to today's newspaper.  The crossword did not go easily and I abandoned it.

Will finish some magazines instead.

We are planning on going to Sarasota tomorrow to see a friend who is in a rehab facility after falling, and seeing our friend Diane Falk and our Shapiro cousins.

A Taste of Home

We both were busy this morning.  I had more needy students than usual and was also doing laundry.

We like to explore new places, but everything we wanted to see was too far away.

So, we headed to the Great Chicago Fire Brewery and Taproom, in Leesburg, for lunch instead. 

We both had beef sandwiches.  Not as good as Portello's, but not bad.

We sat outside and listened to bikers at other tables - interesting lifestyle.

After lunch, we went to check out a store that advertises in the newspaper.  We bought nothing.

Today was Wednesday, so we went to Sumter Landing to check out the vendors.  Very disappointing.  Very few vendors and people compared to other years.  We left before the music started.

We came home with the intention of having appetizers and wine outside on the patio, but it was already getting dark so we had our little repast at our dining room table.

Listened to the news until we could not stand it any more.

In Slow Motion

In the morning, though we both worked, we were in slow motion and did not get out of the house until late morning.

We both called our respective post offices, as neither of our packages had arrived over the weekend.
After trying the Des Plaines Post Office for some time, Terry was finally able to get a tracking number and learn her package was out for delivery.

My package, however, is still in Chicago somewhere!!!  We pay big bucks for Premium Forwarding and the mail is to go out every Wednesday and we should receive it by Saturday at the latest. That's what is says in small print.

I had to contact OnStar, as my in-car telephone number was not working.  After a little time, they were able to get it to work.

We had some errands to run.  Terry's favorite socks had seen their last days and she needed to replace them.  Since she had a credit at Kohl's we made that our first stop.  They had a sale, buy 5 pairs of socks and get another 5 for half off!  She was happy.

I needed to get some greeting cards, and Terry needed a few things, at Dollar Tree, so we walked over there (next door to Kohl's).

We then got hungry, because it was after 2 p.m. and we walked over to Keke's.  They close at 2:30 p.m., but there was no problem getting seated.  We had a good lunch and when we were ready to leave we had to have someone unlock the door for us.

We stopped in Belle's Outlet and Terry bought a cute black sweater and two pairs of shoes.  I bought a washcloth and a bra. Our life is so exciting!

We stopped at Publix, or I should say Terry shopped at Publix while I made some telephone calls.  Also, dropped my phone between the seat and the console!  I got out of the car to find it and set off the car alarm.  Had to find my keys in my purse to quiet it.  The alarm was going off and my telephone was beeping (caught between the seats)!  I finally got the seat moved sufficiently to rescue my telephone and read the text that had come in while I was turning off the alarm and rescuing the phone.

One of my telephone calls was to a friend who was driving a group of my friends down to East Peoria for our state association meetings.  The roads were icy and his windshield was iced up while he was driving (wiper fluid was not for winter)!  They arrived safely,

The greater Chicago area is in for more bad weather and we got an alert from our Temple that some activities were being cancelled for tonight and tomorrow morning.

We stopped at the postal station and Terry's mail was there.  God only knows where mine is.

Terry had a taste for chicken pot pies and bought some for dinner.  They were pretty bad and we tossed them!

Before watching Finding Your Roots, Terry was doing laundry and we both were listening to the Symposium (Tuesday morning class at our Temple).  The speaker was our own Rabbi, Karyn Kedar. speaking on being a Reform Jew.

I'm trying to finish the book for our Sisterhood Book Club.  In the meantime, I finished Monday's crossword puzzle.  Have not tackled reading Tuesday's newspaper, or doing that crossword, as yet.

Monday, Martin Luther King Holiday

Monday, January 21 - oops, forgot to write the blog

Even though it was a holiday, I was busy a good part of the day with Township and Foundation work.  Checked on my students also, but it was not too busy there.

At 1 p.m., Arlene and Joan came over and we played mah jongg.  We had kept the dining room table without the leaf so we did not have to do anything but set up the mah jongg set.

Joan was very hot and had multiple mah jonggs.  I had a couple, Arlene had one and Terry had none.

After dinner, we watched Antiques Road Show.

Not too exciting a day, so that is probably why I forgot to write the blog - that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Red Hot Lovers

We worked in the morning and after a quick bite for lunch, we went to pick up Arlene and Joan to go to see Last of the Red Hot Lovers.  The play was at Lake Minona and we sat at tables, cabaret style.  We brought pretzels and drinks and Arlene and Joan brought chips and drinks.  Our drinks were without liquor as it was pretty early (2 p.m.).  We were at a table with four other people.

After the play we decided to go to a Country Club for dinner.  One of the closer ones was Evans Prairie and we decided to go there.  Everyone ordered something different - Terry and I both had pasta dishes and have leftovers.

It was a cold, windy night, and we came back here for dessert and tea.

Arlene and Joan left after tea and walked through our garage and took our garbage out to the curb for us.

Tomorrow is a holiday, so we have to wait until Tuesday to find out why neither of us got our mail.

Mindy and Terry talked and Miranda is back at school, Jeremy is fine and Ashley is postponing her birthday celebration because she is still recovering from dental surgery.

Stacy told Mindy that their father had fallen and was taken to the hospital, we are waiting to hear how he is.

Art in the Park and Play at Studio Theatre

It was  a beautiful day (in the 70's) and after working and breakfast (Terry made us French Toast), we picked up Arlene and Joan to go to Art in the Park, in Lake County.

The Art Fair was a bust - every year there are fewer and fewer vendors.  In fact, the usual ice cream place was not there - Terry was looking forward to having an ice cream!

After we left there, we rode through the drive through at McDonald's so Terry could get an ice-cream cone.

While she was eating her ice cream, I ran into Dollar Tree to get a snack and some drinks for the play we will be going to tomorrow.

We came home to relax and then ate our leftovers from last night, changed clothes, and went to pick up Arlene and Joan.

We met Diane and Tom and Joyce and her daughter, Laura, at the Studio Theatre for a play in their black-box theatre.

It was a musical and the cast was excellent.  The play was a hoot and I won't give away the plot, but I'll just say "I did not see that coming."  It was very funny and a lot of fun.

Singing Waiters

Beautiful day.  We spent the morning working and then went grocery shopping.

Picked up Arlene and Joan to go to Katie Belle's for dinner and the singing waiters.  We met Ethel and Steve there.

Ethel, Joan, Steve, Terry, Marilyn, Arlene 

We had a great time and the food was good.  We have leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

Terry has been in communication with the kids and no snow so far.  They are supposed to
be getting eight inches of snow.

Henry Flagler's Wives

We had a lazy day as I had not slept well the night before and Terry awoke with a headache.  We both ironed (we can be so domestic when want to be).

After dinner, we went to Savannah Center to see Dianne Jacoby in The Wives of Henry Flagler.  He had three wives and all were very different.  If you don't know who Henry Flagler was, I can tell you that he was one of the founders of Standard Oil, and developed Florida and brought railway travel to Florida.

Here's the set as we are waiting for it to start.

It was a one-woman show and she had two costume changes  She did a wonderful job.

Nice Day for Exploring

Today was on the cool side so after breakfast, working and doing laundry (Marilyn) we decided to explore the Grand Oaks Resort where the Carriage museum is located.

The resort never materialized (it was supposed to be a hotel).  There are some cabins and an RV Park and the Bistro Restaurant.  The Carriage Museum is closed for "remodeling."

Lunch was very good.  I had a cheeseburger and Terry had a salad.

Somehow Terry thought the rear end of the horse was more attractive.

After leaving there, we went to check out the new Dollar Tree off of 466A between Powell and Highway 301.  A lot of cars were in the parking lot and the store looked as if the locust had been there.

We ran a few more errands and then came home to a light supper and laundry (Terry).

Two Tables of Mah Jongg

We set up the house for two tables of mah jongg.  There were nine of us and we all took a turn sitting out and moving from one table to another - fun.

In addition to Terry and me:  Diane, Joyce, Joy, Arlene, Joan, Ethel and Cinda (a friend of a friend from Temple who just happened to also know Joy).

I had a conference call with the Niles Township Food Pantry Foundation Fund Raising Group and then Terry and I had a little dinner.

We watched Finding Your Roots and then spent the rest of the evening reading.

Monday, January 14, 2019 - Oops

Oops - I forgot to write the blog last night.  I guess because it wasn't too exciting of a day.

We worked in the morning and finally got out of the house to grocery shop at Walmart in the afternoon. 

In the evening, I had a Township meeting and Terry was watching Antiques Road Show, filmed in Chicago.

Patchouli at the Bakery

Today we picked up Arlene and Joan at 10:45 am to go to Yalaha Bakery to hear Patchouli.  It was a beautiful day and we stayed for lunch and all three of their "sets".  Bruce sat with us before they started to play, eating his lunch and visiting.  We got to see Julie's parents who have moved to The Villages and are loving it.  They have found their neighbors very friendly and have taken to the life style by trying all kinds of new activities.

We came home and finished our pizza from last night and read and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Exploring

We both worked most of the morning and had our leftover pancakes for breakfast.  They were just as good the second time around.

I took a little snooze before getting dressed and meeting Arlene and Joan to go exploring.  We went down to the Brownwood Area to see the new Lofts of Brownwood and a new hotel and health facility.  You could not really see too much as the area was a construction area. 

As long as we were in the neighborhood, we went to Russell Stover to see if they were giving away anything and all bought some chocolate.

We then went down to Fenney to see what was new down there and there are a lot of new homes and a lot of construction.  We got a little misplaced down there and had to use the GPS to go to dinner.

We went to Mom and Dad's for pizza.  We have a half of the pizza left for another meal.  It was very good and we were stuffed.  

Arlene and Joan invited us back to their place for dessert.  We dropped off our leftovers, and the candy we bought. and walked over to their house for tea and banana/chocolate chip cake.

I'm doing laundry now and we are both reading.

Eye Doctor -Glass Prescription NOT

Terry and I got up early and got dressed and left the house (after I checked student emails) to go to the Ocala Eye Clinic and my appointment with Dr. Vish.

I was there, I thought to get a prescription for eye glasses after cataract surgery.  My eyes needed to heal more after the surgery before a prescription could be written and we had to leave for Florida.

I explained that when I made the appointment to see the Florida eye doctor.  However, they wanted to do a full "annual" checkup.  When they learned that I had cataract surgery elsewhere and I was in the 90-days of post-op with another doctor, the appointment was over and no prescription was written.

Fortunately, I have my Walgreen progressive glasses for reading and don't need glasses for driving, so I'm going to wait until March to get a new prescription.  I could go to an eyeglass place here that offers exams, but prefer to just wait until I get home.  Made an appointment for March at home.

After that fun event, we went to First Watch and treated ourselves to pancakes - mine were chocolate chip and Terry's were blueberry.  We each have half of our order to eat another day.  Terry had a $2 off coupon so the day was not a total loss.

We ran a few errands (did some walking) and came home to rest.

We then went to the Postal Station and both of our packages were there.  Terry had to get a tall man to help her get my box out of a top mailbox.  God bless those height-endowed people appearing when you need them.

We had dinner and are doing some reading.

Catching Up

It was a cool day, so we stayed inside most of the day playing catch up and working.

We did laundry and WORKED.

We finally got outside to stop at the mailbox (nothing in the box).

For those keeping track, our first packages arrived last week.  Terry's was delivered to the door last week and mine was in the box.

We did go to recycle newspapers at the Temple, so we did get some fresh air today.

We are now reading and relaxing.  Doesn't get any more interesting than that-sorry!!!!

Apple Telephone and Road Trip

Today, after working and breakfast, we headed to Orlando to get a new battery installed in my i-Phone.

It's a long story, I had tried to do this in December, but there were no batteries in the Chicago Area, I learned this when I arrived at Apple's store in Old Orchard, after I had made an appointment to have the battery changed.

A battery was supposed to be waiting for me in Orlando, at an Apple store.  However, I never could get through to then and got Customer Service each time.  Found out that the store was closing for remodeling.  So, Customer Service made an appointment for me to get a new battery at Best Buy.  I called the store last night and they confirmed that they had a battery in stock.

So, we drove to Best Buy, in Orlando, where Apple made an appointment for me to get the new battery installed.  Apple was supposed to honor December's price $29, Best Buy knew nothing about that so I paid $49.

While waiting for them to install the battery we walked over to Duffy's Sports Grill and had a nice lunch sitting outside.

Not a great photo, but you get the idea. 

After I got the telephone back, we drove a few blocks over to Costco and bought some things.  We miss Costco as there is none in The Villages, or close by.

We came home and invited Arlene and Joan over for cocktails and had a pleasant visit with them.

We are checking emails and relaxing.

Chicagoland Ladies - First Ladies

We worked in the morning, had breakfast, and got ready to go the Chicagoland Ladies, and the program, First Ladies.

We brought some chicken for the Friendship Salad.  I was seated at Table 2 and Terry and Diane were at Table 3, Karen was at Table 7.  Everyone brought something to put on the salad. The club supplied the lettuce, dressing and dessert.  Cost was $3 per person.

The speaker spoke about the First Ladies- a little gossip about the first ladies (nothing about the current first lady).  Fun program.

We left the Truman Recreation Center after the program and went over to the Hospital Resale Shop, where Terry found a pair of pants.  We ran into Karen at that shop.

We next went to Marie Rose, another resale shop.  I bought two tops.

Came home to eat dinner.  We watched Finding Your Roots before Terry went into a business conference call with Mindy and their staff.

I watched DT's speech to the nation.  I have nothing to say in polite society.

Cousins and Friends

Got up fairly early so I could answer student questions before having to leave the house.

Stopped at the post office to return some shoes that I had ordered and then we were on our way to Palm Harbor, FL to meet our cousins Betty, Bill and Adam Shapiro and Adam's girlfriend, Jaclyn.

Betty and Bill live in Philly and Adam and Jaclyn live and work at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT.

We had a nice lunch at Freshii's and visited for over two hours. Jaclyn left to go back to work before I took the photo. Got to see Betty's wonderful artwork on her telephone (she did not get her talent from our side of the family)!  Her great grandmother and our grandfather (our mother's father) were sister and brother.

Cousin Betty sent us the two photo above.

When we were driving there we realized we were near our friends Carol and Harry (who just moved to Trinity, Florida from California).  We called and asked if we could drop in after lunch and they said yes.  Carol's daughter, Julie, just moved down there too from New Jersey.  She was there too.

We had a nice ride on I-75 there and back.  It was a beautiful day and the traffic was not too bad.

When we got back to The Villages and I called the Township Office I found out that my friend, Lou Lang, resigned from the General Assembly.  I had an email from him telling me that and also a Facebook Post, but I had not checked email or Facebook all day while we were visiting.

"With the new year, I want to share with you some personal transition news. Today, I begin a second act. First, I resigned my seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. Second, I have become a full-partner in the government affairs firm, Advantage Government Strategies, whose president is Nancy Kimme a former chief of staff to the late Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, a dear friend of mine. Wish me luck." Lou

Terry made us a nice dinner and poured me a big glass of wine - I'm feeling no pain!

Beautiful Day and Errands

I worked all morning and tried to read some of the Sunday newspaper.

After lunch, we went to Anthony's as they were having a sale.  Not one to miss a sale we shopped (or I should say, I shopped).  I bought a paid of jeans that were so reasonable they almost paid me to take then out of the store.  I also got navy leggings with a perfect length (hard to find).  Terry tried things on but did not buy anything.

We also stopped into Beall's Outlet in the same shopping center.  Terry found me a great buy on a LeSportsac Purse, in black!  I also found a pair of shoes and a short pair of navy leggings.  Terry found a cute top.

We went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping and they also had my sandals, so I bought them, as there was only one pair in my size.

We came home to eat our leftover prime rib from last night - yummy!

Terry baked some chicken breast and cut them up for our contribution to the friendship salad at the Chicagoland Club Lunch on Tuesday.

We are reading and relaxing.

Cooler Day

I worked in the morning answering student questions.  Then around noon, the box of checks to be signed, from the Township, arrived and I did that too, and prepared the envelope to return them to the Township.

We dressed and picked up Arlene and Joan to go to the Sumter Landing Craft Fair.  Terry and I each bought a pair of earrings.  It was too crowded for us so we took a break and sat listening to music in the square.

The Christmas Tree was still up and looked lovely.

Also watched line dancing lead by the entertainer.

It started to get cold as the sun was starting to go down so we went back to the car and decided to go for an early dinner.  We decided to go to Mallory Country Club.  Their special was prime rib for $15!!!!   We all ordered it and it was delicious - Terry and I have leftovers.

Terry took a photo of the napkin.

We are now in for the night and turned the heat on since it is in the 60's!  It will be a quiet night of reading.

Rainy Day

The morning was nice and warm, but around 3 p.m., the heavens opened up and it drizzled for the rest of the day and evening.

I worked in the morning and then participated in my REALTOR Board's Contracts Committee, via telephone.

Terry went to weigh in for the month and she was a happy camper when she returned.

We had lunch and then read and got ready to go to meet Ethel, Joan and Arlene for dinner at Cheng's and then went to Temple.  One of the members was acting as the spiritual leader while they await the arrival of a new rabbi - /CantorRabbi Lev Sonnenstein.  Next month we should see him.

The services were very pleasant- the choir is still not as good as the one when we first started coming, but they were adequate.  The accompanist is back and that helps.  She and the former Rabbi, who was there less than a year, before he died, had a falling out.  The Rabbi caused a lot of problems while he was there -he was not a good fit for the congregation.

Frustrating Day

Terry made us a nice breakfast of eggs and leftover salmon....yummy.

When we finally left the house we went to the box office to buy tickets - first went to Saddlebrook Recreation Center, but they no longer have a box office there.

Had to go to Savannah and stood in line at the box office for over an hour!!!!  I don't do lines!!!!!

I was sixth in line.  One lady took 20 minutes (the clerk had the patience of Job).  Another couple did not know what they wanted - "is that a play??"  You get the idea.

When we left Savannah, we went to pick up tickets for a play at the home of the director/ producer.

Needed some get-well cards, etc. and stopped at Dollar Tree and returned something to Kohl's.

Went home to eat leftovers.

Called the Apple Store in Almonte Springs - they were not picking up their telephone and I got Apple Support.  That store was asked to reserve a replacement phone battery for me (as Old Orchard did not have any replacement batteries when I was there in December - after having made a reservation to have the battery changed).  I don't want to travel over one hour one way to find out that they do not have a battery for my telephone reserved for me.  Customer Support on my first call disconnected me after a half-hour on the telephone.  I called back and spent another half hour to get no answer.  That's over an hour that I will never get back.

Then, I went online to order tickets to hear a speaker - and the ticket ordering timed me out as I was almost done!  I finally had to go back in to order the tickets!   Success.

I think I need to go to bed before I blow a gasket.  I'm not taking my blood pressure tonight!!!

Busy Day

We left the house early to run some errands.

Terry went to Publix for dinner tonight.  While she was there, I went to Bank of American and my eye doctor's office to get the vitamins that I use for dry eye.

I picked Terry up at Publix and we ran the groceries home and went over to Angela's nails for manicures and pedicures.

Stopped in at Walmart to buy some more wine and for me to return something I had bought the other day that did not work.

From there, we went to get our hair done.

Ran home afterwards to set the table and start cooking dinner.

Arlene and Joan just arrived  in The Villages and Ethel and Steve have been here since Saturday.

Terry made a good dinner of salmon, potatoes, salad and dessert.

After dessert, we compared calendars and arranged some dates with the group.

Steve, Joan, Arlene, Ethel, Marilyn

January 1, 2019 - HAPPY NEW YEAR's DAY

I answered student questions and also welcomed some new students - 18 to be more specific.  We are getting to be like the January 1st gym-club memberships.  I wonder how many of these students will complete the course and still be in business a year from now.

Also finished reading the newspaper - what a treat.  I finished today's crossword too!

Terry was reading most of the morning too.  She made us a wonderful breakfast of eggs, and then prepared our appetizer contribution.

As usual, we misjudged how long it takes to get to Diane and Tom's and won the prize for the first guests!

There were eighteen of us, a few people we had not met before and some of the old standbys.

The number of appetizers was overwhelming and delicious.

We played the annual card game and then broke for dessert.  Do-it-yourself sundaes and cookies for  dessert.  OMG so much food!!!  We felt compelled to try everything- only polite thing to do, color us stuffed!!!

Came home to catch up on emails and Facebook.  Terry is doing laundry and I was unpacking the box we had left in Diane and Tom's garage.  So nice to be sitting on our plush cushions when working, the bar stools are hard!